Extended Data Fig. 2: Phenotype detection of nematode motility development.

After the strains L4440 and Escherichia coli containing target gene RNAi were fed to rrf-3 mutant nematode and TU3311 strain, we measured and analyzed the body length, body width, moving distance and speed. The differences were compared using a statistical method called the Log-rank(Mantel-Cox) Test. n = 50 worms for each case. ‘*’ means P < 0.05, ‘**’ means P < 0.01, and ‘***’ means P < 0.001. Data are presented as mean values +/− SEM. a. Mean Worm Length (um): The body length showed no significant difference in nmpg-1 or tom-1 target gene RNAi bacteria feeding rrf-3 mutant nematode (P = 0.22 and 0.075, respectively), but the body length was increased when feeding TU3311 strain nematode (P = 0.044 and 0.0011 in TU3311). b. Mean Width (um): There was no significant difference in the body width of the mutant strains (P = 0.53 and 0.18 in rrf-3, and P = 0.72 and 0.10 in TU3311). c. Speed (um/s): When the tom-1 target gene RNAi bacteria were fed to rrf-3 mutant nematode, the movement speed was significantly slower than that of the nematode fed by L4440 bacteria (P = 0.0002). When feeding tom-1 target gene RNAi bacteria to TU3311 strain nematode, the movement speed was faster than that fed by L4440 strain nematode (P = 0.011). For nmgp-1 RNAi bacteria fed rrf-3 mutant nematode and TU3311 strain nematode, there was no significant difference (P = 0.88 and 0.21, respectively). d. Track Length (um): When feeding tom-1 target gene RNAi bacteria to rrf-3 nematode, the distance was shorter than that fed by L4440 bacteria (P = 0.0002). When feeding tom-1 target gene RNAi bacteria to TU3311 strain nematode, the track length was longer than that fed by L4440 strain nematode (P = 0.011). There was no significant difference in distance when feeding nmgp-1 target gene RNAi bacteria (P = 0.88 and 0.21 in rrf-3 and TU3311 strain, respectively).